"Hey Man!" he said, "whatchew know?"

The Butterfly slowly turned his head to one side and looked off into the distance as if he didn't see the Caterpillar, let alone hear him.

"Hey Man! I said, 'Whatchewknow!'."

The Butterfly cocked his head a little as if he did hear a sound, but then shrugged his front shoulders as if dismissing the whole affair. The Caterpillar realized at that moment he was being given the cold air treatment and was going to walk away, but stopped and gave the situation a little thought. He looked at the Butterfly a moment, then searched the ground until he found what he wanted. Picking up a rock his round face glowed with a devilish smile and as quick as he could, he threw it at the Butterfly. The rock tore a big hole in the Butterfly's left wing. The Caterpillar immediately got the attention of the Butterfly.

"You worthless bastard!" screamed the Butterfly. Obviously the Butterfly was a wee bit put out.

"I said and I repeat once again, 'Hey Man, whatchewknow! (you frapping snob)."

As he said this he crossed two sets of legs and picked at his teeth with a straw. The Butterfly tried his wings without taking to the air and convinced himself that it would be disastrous to fly with the hole in it. He looked at the Caterpillar for a long time watching him pick his teeth in snug satisfaction, then picked up a board and started to squash himself a no-good bug. The Caterpillar barely side-stepped the devastating blow.

"Hey Man. Waitamint! Don't get so sore! Simmerdown! Takeiteasy. I was just joking."

"So am I!" replied the butterfly as he took another hefty swing.

The Caterpillar tried to sidestep again but the board caught him square on the tail bone. He took a few hard bumps off the rocks as he bounced over the ground. The Butterfly was coming at him again, with the board high in the air.

"Hey Man, hold that pose and I'll fix that wing and we'll be even and not the worst!"

The Caterpillar was working all four hind legs...and making good use of his front ones to boot...to get upright and get out of the way of that board with a green spot on it. Just as he was about to deliver a coup de grace, the Butterfly held his blow and quickly gave that thought (at least the one about his wing getting fixed) some thought.

"All right, Bug!" said the Butterfly as he causally tossed the board to one side, but not so far that he couldn't retrieve it at any moment. "How do you propose to fix this wing. And I warn you, Insect, if you don't fix it right, SQUASH!!!" With his exclamation point he gave a mock swing with his front leg, down the center line of the Caterpillar.

The Caterpillar stuck a finger under his collar and gave a hard gulp.

"Gulp!"

Then he reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a lumpy bag, opened it and extracted a hand full of something or the other and chewed it like it was the last thing he would do in his life (needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, it would be the last thing he would do if he failed to fix that broken wing).

"I was saving this to spin my cocoon, but seeing as you are in dire straits and since I'm the friend that I am, I'm willing to part with it!"

"I can see," remarked the Butterfly with as much acidity as he could engender, "that you are indeed a true Samaritan."

After chewing what seemed ages to the Butterfly...as he kept saying "hurry, hurry," the Caterpillar drew out a fine thread of silk and began weaving the gaping hole.

When he finished, he stepped back and with feigned voice, he said, "Hey Man. that's the greatest. Like new. Just stain it with a little berry juice and no one will ever know."

As he said this he backed away. The Butterfly didn't notice as he was admiring his wing. When he did notice, the Caterpillar was hauling tail on all six legs and disappeared under a clump of weeds.

"No matter." thought the Butterfly and he flapped his wings and soared into the air. The Caterpillar stuck his head out of the weed patch just in time to see a big bird swoop down and catch the Butterfly in his beak.

"Humph! Serves him right good." thought the Caterpillar and he turned to walk away only to step into the open mouth of a big fat old hen.

Copyright 2007 by C.D. Goosen

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Beauty is only skin deep.

However, it's still better than
being ulgy.